The government-backed California-based automaker hasn't built a vehicle in more than six months and has been waiting for battery supplier A123 to emerge from bankruptcy before resuming production.

The cash-constrained company also has been searching for an investor and has hired outside advisers. Some analysts say Fisker may be acquired. "We have multiple interested partners for investment," Fisker told reporters after a speech Thursday at the Chicago Auto Show.

He declined to say if Chinese firms are interested in investing in Fisker.

A123 was sold to a Chinese firm, Wanxiang Group Corp., in a deal that closed last month. It's not clear when it will start producing batteries for Fisker again.

"We are negotiating right now to figure out exactly when they are going to start," Fisker said, declining to give a date that production might begin.

Fisker has sold about 2,000 vehicles worldwide and will launch sales in May in China, Fisker said. The company said last year it would launch sales in China by the end of March.

In 2009, Fisker won $529 million in low-cost Energy Department loans and has drawn $193 million of that sum, mostly to use in developing its Karma model -- designed and engineered in the United States but assembled in Finland.

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The Energy Department froze the rest of the loan last year.

The automaker said in April that it may not build the vehicle in Wilmington, Del., after suffering several setbacks with its first plug-in hybrid batteries.

In October, it told investors it was pushing back production of its next-generation family sedan, the Atlantic, by at least two years.

In August, Fisker recalled 2,400 Karmas to replace a cooling fan cited as the cause of a recent fire.

The automaker said the recall was prompted by the roadside fire of a $103,000 Fisker Karma sedan on Aug. 10 in Woodside, Calif. Fisker said an investigation found the ignition source was a sealed component that had an internal fault that caused it to fail, overheat and start a slow burning fire.

This is the third recall to impact the Karma since December.

The company suffered a setback when Consumer Reports bought a Fisker and it died soon after. Fisker issued a recall for the first 240 Fisker Karma vehicles in December to address coolant leaks that could have led to a battery fire.

In March, Fisker's battery supplier, A123, agreed to replace about 600 batteries in Karma sedans at a cost of $55 million after it said it found manufacturing flaws

In November, Fisker tapped General Motors' former chief marketing officer, who was ousted by GM this summer, as its chief commercial officer.

Joel Ewanick replaced the retiring Richard Beattie on an interim basis. In August, the company replaced its CEO, Tom LaSorda, with a former head of GM's plug-in hybrid Volt program, Tony Posawatz -- the latest in a series of management changes for the company that has faced recalls and production delays.

Fisker has raised $1 billion in the private equity markets to fund the 4-year-old company and is raising more

Fisker said in November it is considering Michigan as the site of a new technical center. It previously had a center in Pontiac.

In his speech, Henrik Fisker acknowledged how hard it is to start a new automaker. But he pointed to Red Bull taking on Coca Cola, Dyson taking on vacuum giants and Virgin Airlines taking on the legacy carriers.

He pointed to successes including the sale of a Fisker to the Saudi environment minister and opening a dealership in the United Arab Emirates.